Phil Manzanera
Encyclopedia
Phil Manzanera is a musician and record producer
. He is the lead guitarist
with Roxy Music
. In 2006 Manzanera co-produced David Gilmour
's album On An Island
and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and North America. He wrote and presented a series of 14 one-hour radio programmes for station Planet Rock entitled The A-Z of Great Guitarists and his instrumental
album, Firebird V11
, was released in 2008.
mother and an English father, and spent most of his childhood in different parts of the Americas, including Hawaii, Venezuela, Colombia and Cuba. It was in Cuba that the young Manzanera, aged 6, encountered his first guitar
, a Spanish guitar owned by his mother. His earliest musical accomplishments were Cuban folk songs
inspired by the Cuban Revolution
.
In Venezuela the eight-year-old Manzanera started experimenting with the sounds of the electric guitar
. During his teenage years he was absorbing the twin influences of 1960s rock and roll
and Latin American rhythms of merengue music
, cumbia
, and particularly the bolero
s of the Mexican Armando Manzanero
.
In his late teens Manzanera—then a boarder at the public school Dulwich College in south east London, England—formed a series of groups with his friends Bill MacCormick
, later a member of Matching Mole
and Random Hold
, MacCormick's brother Ian (better known as music writer Ian MacDonald
) and drummer Charles Hayward
, later of This Heat
. The final incarnation of this succession of bands was the progressive rock quartet Quiet Sun with keyboard player Dave Jarrett which broke up when McCormack joined Matching Mole, although Manzanera briefly revived the band in 1975 to record an LP of their original music during the making of his first solo album Diamond Head (an unusual solo album for a guitarist with two vocal songs by Brian Eno
, one by Robert Wyatt
, and one with vocals by John Wetton and Doreen Chanter.)
ist for the recently formed art rock
band, Roxy Music
. Manzanera displayed a wide-ranging interest in music. Influenced by his childhood sojourns in Latin America, and his stints at boarding school
, he came to know several prominent musicians including Soft Machine
's Robert Wyatt
and Pink Floyd
's David Gilmour
, who was a friend of his older brother.
Although the group were impressed with his abilities, Manzanera lost out to David O'List
, former guitarist with noted UK psych-pop combo The Nice
, although Roxy did offer him work as their roadie. However a few months later O'List quit the band abruptly after an onstage altercation with drummer Paul Thompson
, during the band's audition for David Enthoven of EG Management. Manzanera was invited to the next rehearsal on the pretext of becoming their sound mixer
but was asked to sit in on guitar. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, he had secretly learned their entire repertoire and as a result he was immediately asked to become O'List's permanent replacement, joining on 14 February 1972.
His bandmates at this time were Bryan Ferry
, Brian Eno, Paul Thompson and Andy Mackay
. Roxy Music's rise was meteoric, with the band being hailed as the stylistic influence of the early 1970s. During the next 12 years, until 1983 when the band members went on a "long break", Roxy Music released a series of internationally best-selling albums, achieving ten UK Top 10 albums and touring extensively throughout the world. In parallel with Roxy Music, Manzanera has always pursued solo projects, both recording his own albums and producing for others. All his previous solo albums have been digitally remastered and re-released with new artwork on his own label, Expression Records.
, David Gilmour
, John Cale
, Godley & Creme
, Nico
and John Wetton
. He has co-written material with many artists, including Brian Eno
, Tim Finn
, Robert Wyatt
and Gilmour. Manzanera co-wrote Pink Floyd
's single "One Slip
" from their 1987 A Momentary Lapse of Reason
album.
In the 1990s Manzanera performed in concerts all over the world, including at Guitar Legends, the five-day guitar festival in Seville, where he was musical director for the event as well as playing with Bob Dylan
, Keith Richards
, Jack Bruce
, Vicente Amigo
, Dave Edmunds
, Joe Satriani
, Steve Cropper
, Aterciopelados
, Robert Cray
and Richard Thompson. He has also played in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Spain, France, Italy and the UK, including a ten-date European tour with the Cuban band Grupo Moncada. He played at WOMAD festivals in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Manzanera ended the 20th Century by appearing with Bryan Ferry at the British Gas Millennium Concert at Greenwich, the first time they had performed together in 18 years. Manzanera produced in 1993 the highly acclaimed album Severino from the Brazilian rock band Os Paralamas do Sucesso, which included a participation by Brian May
.
The Roxy Music "long break" came to an end in 2001 with a critically acclaimed, sold-out, 52-date world tour. In the summer of 2003 Roxy played 10 dates in the US, followed by 13 European gigs in 2004, including performing at Live 8
in Berlin.
Manzanera has a state-of-the-art studio, Gallery Studios, in West London. The first recording was Robert Wyatt's album Cuckooland
, and the client list also includes Brian Eno, David Gilmour, Annie Lennox
, Kevin Ayers
, and Chrissie Hynde
. Wyatt's critically acclaimed album, Comicopera
, was recorded at Gallery in 2007.
Manzanera began singing on his own albums with Vozero in 2001, followed by 6pm in 2004 and 50 Minutes Later in 2005.
He appeared at The Strat Pack
celebration concert at Wembley Arena in 2005, alongside other musicians such as Hank Marvin
, Ronnie Wood and David Gilmour.
He also collaborated with Eno and David Byrne
on 2008's Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
.
Between 2003 and 2008 he collaborated with Colombian
artist/sculptor Lucho Brieva on the Corroncho project. The project sprang from a Spanish version of the track Complicada, written by Brieva's wife Chrissie Hynde. The resulting album comprises a set of songs about two corroncho characters (corroncho being the pejorative name given by people from Bogota
to fellow Colombians from the Caribbean Coast, particularly Barranquilla
. The album includes the musical styles of salsa
, cumbia
, pop music
, ballads and chillout and has guest appearances from Robert Wyatt, Paul Thompson, Enrique Bunbury
, Chrissie Hynde, Annie Lennox
, Quimi Portet, Gilad Atzmon, and one of Cuba
’s top pianists Aldo Lopez Gavilan.
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. He is the lead guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
with Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
. In 2006 Manzanera co-produced David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
's album On An Island
On an Island
On an Island is the third solo album by David Gilmour, best known as vocalist and lead guitarist for Pink Floyd. It was released in the UK on 6 March 2006, Gilmour's 60th birthday, and in the United States the following day. It was Gilmour's first new solo album in 22 years...
and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and North America. He wrote and presented a series of 14 one-hour radio programmes for station Planet Rock entitled The A-Z of Great Guitarists and his instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
album, Firebird V11
Firebird V11
Firebird V11 is a studio album by Phil Manzanera, guitarist of rock band Roxy Music. The album's title is inspired by a guitar of the same name, made by Gibson, a guitar with which Manzanera has had a long career .-Track listing:...
, was released in 2008.
Early years (1951–1970)
Manzanera was born in London to a ColombianColombian people
Colombian people are from a multiethnic Spanish speaking nation in South America called Colombia. Colombians are predominantly Roman Catholic and are a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...
mother and an English father, and spent most of his childhood in different parts of the Americas, including Hawaii, Venezuela, Colombia and Cuba. It was in Cuba that the young Manzanera, aged 6, encountered his first guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, a Spanish guitar owned by his mother. His earliest musical accomplishments were Cuban folk songs
Cuban folk music
Cuban folk music is very diverse and has been influenced by Spanish people, slaves from Africa and the remaining indigenous population of the Caribbean.- Classification of genres :...
inspired by the Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
.
In Venezuela the eight-year-old Manzanera started experimenting with the sounds of the electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
. During his teenage years he was absorbing the twin influences of 1960s rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
and Latin American rhythms of merengue music
Merengue music
Merengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...
, cumbia
Cumbia
Cumbia is a music genre popular across Latin America. The cumbia originated in the Caribbean coast of Colombia, where it is associated with an eponymous dance and has since spread as far as Mexico and Argentina...
, and particularly the bolero
Bolero
Bolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...
s of the Mexican Armando Manzanero
Armando Manzanero
Armando Manzanero Canché is a Mexican musician and composer of Maya descent, widely considered the premier Mexican romantic composer of the postwar era and one of the most successful composers of Latin America....
.
In his late teens Manzanera—then a boarder at the public school Dulwich College in south east London, England—formed a series of groups with his friends Bill MacCormick
Bill MacCormick
Bill MacCormick is an English bassist and vocalist. He was a member of the bands Quiet Sun with Phil Manzanera, brother Ian MacCormick and others; Matching Mole with Robert Wyatt and others; 801 with Manzanera, Brian Eno and others; and Random Hold...
, later a member of Matching Mole
Matching Mole
Matching Mole was a short-lived UK progressive rock band from the Canterbury scene best known for the song "O Caroline". Robert Wyatt formed the band in October 1971 after he left Soft Machine and recorded his first solo album The End of an Ear...
and Random Hold
Random Hold
Random Hold was a British rock band from 1977 to 1980.-History:The first line-up featured David Ferguson and David Rhodes , plus Simon Ainley , Bill MacCormick and David Leach...
, MacCormick's brother Ian (better known as music writer Ian MacDonald
Ian MacDonald
Ian MacCormick was a British music critic and author, best known for Revolution in the Head, his forensic history of The Beatles which borrowed techniques from art historians, and The New Shostakovich, a controversial study of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich...
) and drummer Charles Hayward
Charles Hayward
Sir Charles Hayward was the 25th mayor of Victoria, British Columbia, from 1900–1902. He had one of the more unusual professions: Starting off as a carpenter, he went into the business of making coffins and turned that into a very successful funeral business, one which remains today...
, later of This Heat
This Heat
This Heat were a British experimental music group formed in early 1976 in Camberwell, London by multi-instrumentalists Charles Bullen , Charles Hayward and Gareth Williams .This Heat were active in the ascendancy of British progressive rock and punk rock, but stood apart...
. The final incarnation of this succession of bands was the progressive rock quartet Quiet Sun with keyboard player Dave Jarrett which broke up when McCormack joined Matching Mole, although Manzanera briefly revived the band in 1975 to record an LP of their original music during the making of his first solo album Diamond Head (an unusual solo album for a guitarist with two vocal songs by Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, one by Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...
, and one with vocals by John Wetton and Doreen Chanter.)
Roxy Music (1971–1983)
Manzanera was determined to join a professional band, and in October 1971 he was one of about twenty players who auditioned as lead guitarLead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
ist for the recently formed art rock
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
band, Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
. Manzanera displayed a wide-ranging interest in music. Influenced by his childhood sojourns in Latin America, and his stints at boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
, he came to know several prominent musicians including Soft Machine
Soft Machine
Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...
's Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...
and Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
, who was a friend of his older brother.
Although the group were impressed with his abilities, Manzanera lost out to David O'List
David O'List
David 'Davy' O'List is a rock guitarist, vocalist and trumpeter.Most notably, he played with The Attack, The Nice and Jet.- Career :...
, former guitarist with noted UK psych-pop combo The Nice
The Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their blend of rock, jazz and classical music. Their debut album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack was released in 1967 to immediate acclaim. It is often considered the first progressive rock album...
, although Roxy did offer him work as their roadie. However a few months later O'List quit the band abruptly after an onstage altercation with drummer Paul Thompson
Paul Thompson (musician)
Paul Thompson is the drummer for Roxy Music from 1971 to 1980 and from 2001 onwards.In between those stints with Roxy Music, he was drummer in the Oi! band, Angelic Upstarts and the American alternative rock band Concrete Blonde...
, during the band's audition for David Enthoven of EG Management. Manzanera was invited to the next rehearsal on the pretext of becoming their sound mixer
Mixing console
In professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board, mixing desk, or mixer is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...
but was asked to sit in on guitar. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, he had secretly learned their entire repertoire and as a result he was immediately asked to become O'List's permanent replacement, joining on 14 February 1972.
His bandmates at this time were Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
, Brian Eno, Paul Thompson and Andy Mackay
Andy Mackay
Andrew "Andy" Mackay is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founder member of the art-rock group Roxy Music....
. Roxy Music's rise was meteoric, with the band being hailed as the stylistic influence of the early 1970s. During the next 12 years, until 1983 when the band members went on a "long break", Roxy Music released a series of internationally best-selling albums, achieving ten UK Top 10 albums and touring extensively throughout the world. In parallel with Roxy Music, Manzanera has always pursued solo projects, both recording his own albums and producing for others. All his previous solo albums have been digitally remastered and re-released with new artwork on his own label, Expression Records.
Solo work (1983–2001)
As a writer, producer and solo artist, Phil Manzanera has worked with many of the luminaries of modern music, such as Steve WinwoodSteve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
, David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
, John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
, Godley & Creme
Godley & Creme
Godley & Creme were an English pop music duo composed of Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. The pair began releasing albums as a duo after splitting from the pop band 10cc. In 1979 they directed their first music video for their own single "An Englishman in New York"...
, Nico
Nico
Nico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s...
and John Wetton
John Wetton
John Kenneth Wetton is an English bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, singer and songwriter. He was born in Willington, Derbyshire, and grew up in Bournemouth. He has been a professional musician since the late 1960s...
. He has co-written material with many artists, including Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, Tim Finn
Tim Finn
Brian Timothy "Tim" Finn, OBE is a New Zealand singer and musician. Finn is most known for his music with New Zealand 1970s and 1980s rock group Split Enz, and later for his solo work, a temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowded House and his joint efforts with Neil Finn as the Finn...
, Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...
and Gilmour. Manzanera co-wrote Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's single "One Slip
One Slip
"One Slip" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1987 album A Momentary Lapse of Reason. The album gets its title from a line of this song's lyrics. It was first released as the B-side to "Learning to Fly"...
" from their 1987 A Momentary Lapse of Reason
A Momentary Lapse of Reason
A Momentary Lapse of Reason is the thirteenth studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. It was released in the UK and US in September 1987. In 1985 guitarist David Gilmour began to assemble a group of musicians to work on his third solo album...
album.
In the 1990s Manzanera performed in concerts all over the world, including at Guitar Legends, the five-day guitar festival in Seville, where he was musical director for the event as well as playing with Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
, Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician and songwriter, respected as a founding member of the British psychedelic rock power trio, Cream, for a solo career that spans several decades, and for his participation in several well-known musical ensembles...
, Vicente Amigo
Vicente Amigo
Vicente Amigo Girol is a Spanish flamenco composer and virtuoso guitarist, born in Guadalcanal, near Seville. He has played as backing guitarist on recordings by flamenco singers El Pele, Camarón de la Isla, Vicente Soto, Luis de Córdoba and the rociero band Salmarina, and he has acted as a...
, Dave Edmunds
Dave Edmunds
David 'Dave' Edmunds is a Welsh singer, guitarist and record producer. Although he is primarily associated with Pub rock and New Wave, and had numerous hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has always been towards 1950s style rock and roll.-Early bands:As a teenager Edmunds first...
, Joe Satriani
Joe Satriani
Joseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...
, Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...
, Aterciopelados
Aterciopelados
Aterciopelados , also referred to as los Aterciopelados on some albums and other promotional materials, are a rock band from Colombia. Led by Andrea Echeverri and Héctor Buitrago, they have been one of the first rock bands from Colombia to gain international notice and is among the country's top...
, Robert Cray
Robert Cray
Robert Cray is an American blues guitarist and singer. A five-time Grammy Award winner, he has led his own band, as well as an acclaimed solo career.-Career:...
and Richard Thompson. He has also played in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Spain, France, Italy and the UK, including a ten-date European tour with the Cuban band Grupo Moncada. He played at WOMAD festivals in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Manzanera ended the 20th Century by appearing with Bryan Ferry at the British Gas Millennium Concert at Greenwich, the first time they had performed together in 18 years. Manzanera produced in 1993 the highly acclaimed album Severino from the Brazilian rock band Os Paralamas do Sucesso, which included a participation by Brian May
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
.
Roxy Music reunion and later work (2001–present)
Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...
in Berlin.
Manzanera has a state-of-the-art studio, Gallery Studios, in West London. The first recording was Robert Wyatt's album Cuckooland
Cuckooland
-Track listing:All tracks composed by Robert Wyatt; except where indicated#"Just a Bit" – 5:09#"Old Europe" – 4:15#"Tom Hay's Fox" – 3:33#"Forest" – 7:55#"Beware" – 5:09...
, and the client list also includes Brian Eno, David Gilmour, Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
, Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers is an English singer-songwriter and was a major influential force in the English psychedelic movement...
, and Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde
Christine Ellen "Chrissie" Hynde is an US musician best known as the leader of the rock/new wave band the Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and has been the only constant member of the band throughout its history.-Early life and career:Hynde is the daughter of a part-time...
. Wyatt's critically acclaimed album, Comicopera
Comicopera
Comicopera is an album by Robert Wyatt released on 8 October 2007, available on both CD and double vinyl formats . It is Wyatt's first release on the Domino Records label...
, was recorded at Gallery in 2007.
Manzanera began singing on his own albums with Vozero in 2001, followed by 6pm in 2004 and 50 Minutes Later in 2005.
He appeared at The Strat Pack
The Strat Pack
The Strat Pack: Live in Concert is a film of a September 24, 2004, concert featuring Joe Walsh, Gary Moore, Brian May, David Gilmour, and many more, marking the 50th Anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar...
celebration concert at Wembley Arena in 2005, alongside other musicians such as Hank Marvin
Hank Marvin
Hank Brian Marvin is an English guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for vocalist Cliff Richard...
, Ronnie Wood and David Gilmour.
He also collaborated with Eno and David Byrne
David Byrne
David Byrne may refer to:*David Byrne , musician and former Talking Heads frontman**David Byrne , his eponymous album*David Byrne , Irish footballer*David Byrne , English footballer...
on 2008's Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today is the second album made in collaboration between David Byrne and Brian Eno, released on August 18, 2008, by Todo Mundo. The album explores themes of humanity versus technology and optimism in spite of bleak circumstance through the blending of electronic...
.
Between 2003 and 2008 he collaborated with Colombian
Colombian people
Colombian people are from a multiethnic Spanish speaking nation in South America called Colombia. Colombians are predominantly Roman Catholic and are a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...
artist/sculptor Lucho Brieva on the Corroncho project. The project sprang from a Spanish version of the track Complicada, written by Brieva's wife Chrissie Hynde. The resulting album comprises a set of songs about two corroncho characters (corroncho being the pejorative name given by people from Bogota
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
to fellow Colombians from the Caribbean Coast, particularly Barranquilla
Barranquilla
Barranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
. The album includes the musical styles of salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
, cumbia
Cumbia
Cumbia is a music genre popular across Latin America. The cumbia originated in the Caribbean coast of Colombia, where it is associated with an eponymous dance and has since spread as far as Mexico and Argentina...
, pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, ballads and chillout and has guest appearances from Robert Wyatt, Paul Thompson, Enrique Bunbury
Enrique Bunbury
Enrique Ortiz de Landázuri Izardui , born August 11, 1967 is a Spanish rock singer-songwriter.Bunbury was born in Zaragoza, Spain. He got involved in music in the early 1980s, making his debut in a high school band called Apocalipsis, and later played along with Proceso Entrópico...
, Chrissie Hynde, Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
, Quimi Portet, Gilad Atzmon, and one of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
’s top pianists Aldo Lopez Gavilan.
Other efforts
- Phil Manzanera co-producedRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
David Gilmour's albumAlbumAn album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
On An IslandOn an IslandOn an Island is the third solo album by David Gilmour, best known as vocalist and lead guitarist for Pink Floyd. It was released in the UK on 6 March 2006, Gilmour's 60th birthday, and in the United States the following day. It was Gilmour's first new solo album in 22 years...
. Manzanera also played rhythm guitar on Gilmour's world tour to support the album in 2006 and appears in Gilmour's concert films Remember That NightRemember That NightRemember That Night is a live concert recording of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's solo concerts at the Royal Albert Hall on 29, 30 & 31 May 2006 as part of his On an Island tour. The title is taken from a line in the song "On an Island". It has been released on both DVD and Blu-ray formats...
and Live in GdańskLive in GdanskLive in Gdańsk is a live album by David Gilmour. It is a part of his On an Island project which includes an album, tour, DVD, and live album. It was released on 22 September 2008...
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- Manzanera appears briefly playing a guitar solo in Red DwarfRed DwarfRed Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises eight series of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and Dave from 2009–present. It gained cult following. It was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six series...
series 6 episode "PsirensPsirens"Psirens" is the first episode of science fiction sit-com Red Dwarf Series VI and the 31st in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 7 October 1993. Written by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor and directed by Andy de Emmony...
". Only his hands appeared playing the guitar, and his credit on the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
lists his role as "Hands of Psiren Lister". On screen he is credited as "the hands of Phil Manzanera".
1975-1982
- 1975 Diamond HeadDiamond Head (album)Diamond Head is the first solo album by Phil Manzanera, issued in 1975. It was originally issued in the UK on Island and in US on Atco...
- 1975 Quiet SunQuiet Sun (band)Quiet Sun were an English progressive rock/jazz fusion band from the Canterbury Scene consisting of Phil Manzanera , Bill MacCormick , Dave Jarrett and Charles Hayward .-History:...
: Mainstream - 1976 801 : 801 Live801 Live801 Live is the debut live album by 801, released in November 1976. In 1976, while Roxy Music had temporarily disbanded, 801 got together as a temporary project and began rehearsing at Island Studios, Hammersmith, about three weeks before their first gig....
- 1977 801 : Listen Now
- 1977 801 : Live at Manchester University
- 1978 K-Scope
- 1982 Primitive Guitars
- 2000 Rare One (rarities during 1975-1991)
- 2000 801 : Liva at Hull (live in 1977)
1985-1992
- 1985 The Explorers(Manzanera & Mackay) : The Explorers (later aka The Complete Exploer in 2001)
- 1986 Wetton Manzanera : One World
- 1988 Nowomowa - The Wasted Lands
- 1988 Manzanera & Mackay : Crack the Whip
- 1989 Manzanera & Mackay : Up in Smoke
- 1991 Manzanera & Mackay : Manzanera & Mackay (compilation above two albums)
- ?(1997) The Explorers : Live at the Palace
- 1990 Southern Cross(aka A Million Reasons Why)
- 1990 Phil Manzanera & Sérgio DiasSérgio DiasSérgio Dias Baptista , is a Brazilian rock musician, composer and guitar player. He is best known for his work with the band Os Mutantes in the late 60s and 70s...
: Mato Grosso - 1991 Manzanera & Tania Libertad : Boleros Hoy
- 1992 Manzanera Moncada : Live at the Karl Marx, Havana
1999-present
- 1999 Vozero
- 2001 801 : 801 Latino
- 2004 6PM
- 2005 50 minutes later
- 2008 Firebird V11Firebird V11Firebird V11 is a studio album by Phil Manzanera, guitarist of rock band Roxy Music. The album's title is inspired by a guitar of the same name, made by Gibson, a guitar with which Manzanera has had a long career .-Track listing:...
- 2010 Corroncho
As producer
- John CaleJohn CaleJohn Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
: FearFear (John Cale album)Fear is a 1974 album by John Cale. It was the first of three albums for Island Records, all of which were released in a period of just over a year...
(1974) - Split EnzSplit EnzSplit Enz were a New Zealand band of the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. They achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada during the early 1980s ‒ most notably with the single "I Got You", and built a cult following elsewhere...
: Second Thoughts (1976) - Heroes del SilencioHéroes del SilencioHéroes del Silencio was a Spanish rock band from Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain, formed by Juan Valdivia and Enrique Bunbury. During the 1990s they experienced success around Spain and the Americas, and in various European countries including Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Serbia and Portugal...
: "Senderos de TraiciónSenderos de TraiciónSenderos de traición is the second studio album by the Spanish rock band Héroes del Silencio, released in 1990....
" (1990) - Tania LibertadTania LibertadTania Libertad de Souza Zúñiga, known as Tania Libertad, is a singer who was born in Peru on October 24, 1952 and has lived in Mexico since 1978....
: "Boleros Hoy" (1991) - Nina HagenNina HagenNina Hagen is a German singer and actress.-Early years:Hagen was born as Catharina Hagen in the former East Berlin, East Germany, the daughter of Hans Hagen , a scriptwriter, and Eva-Maria Hagen, an actress and singer...
: Revolution BallroomRevolution BallroomRevolution Ballroom is the eighth studio album by Nina Hagen, released in 1993.- Track listing :All tracks composed by Nina Hagen; except where indicated# "So Bad" # "Revolution Ballroom"...
(1993) - Heroes del SilencioHéroes del SilencioHéroes del Silencio was a Spanish rock band from Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain, formed by Juan Valdivia and Enrique Bunbury. During the 1990s they experienced success around Spain and the Americas, and in various European countries including Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Serbia and Portugal...
: "El Espíritu del VinoEl Espíritu del VinoEl Espiritu Del Vino is the third studio album by the Spanish rock band Héroes del Silencio, released in 1993. A double disc special edition was released in December 2006 on EMI.- History :...
" (1993) - Os Paralamas do Sucesso: SeverinoSeverino (album)Severino was the seventh studio album by Os Paralamas do Sucesso released in 1994. The album was produced by Phil Manzanera-Description:...
(1994) - Fito PáezFito PáezRodolfo "Fito" Páez Ávalos is an Argentine popular rock and roll pianist, lyricist, Spanish language singer and film director.-Early career:...
: Circo Beat (1994) - AterciopeladosAterciopeladosAterciopelados , also referred to as los Aterciopelados on some albums and other promotional materials, are a rock band from Colombia. Led by Andrea Echeverri and Héctor Buitrago, they have been one of the first rock bands from Colombia to gain international notice and is among the country's top...
: La Pipa de la PazLa Pipa de la PazLa Pipa de la Paz is the third album from the Colombian band Aterciopelados.-Track listing:# "Cosita Seria" - 3:27# "No Necesito" - 3:44# "Quemarropa" - 3:25# "Nada Que Ver" - 3:19...
(1996) - Robi Draco Rosa: "VagabundoVagabundoVagabundo is a concept album by Robi Dräco Rosa. It was recorded in Surrey, England under the creative direction of Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera. The music video for "Madre Tierra" was directed by Angela Alvarado and won Best Rock Video in the 1997 Latin Music Awards...
" (1996) - Enrique BunburyEnrique BunburyEnrique Ortiz de Landázuri Izardui , born August 11, 1967 is a Spanish rock singer-songwriter.Bunbury was born in Zaragoza, Spain. He got involved in music in the early 1980s, making his debut in a high school band called Apocalipsis, and later played along with Proceso Entrópico...
: "Radical SonoraRadical SonoraRadical Sonora is Enrique Bunbury's first solo album after his involvement with Heroes Del Silencio. It is an electro rock album. It was distributed by Chrysalis Records.-Track listing:#Big-bang#Negativo#Encadenados#Contracorriente#Planeta sur...
" (1997) - David GilmourDavid GilmourDavid Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
: On an IslandOn an IslandOn an Island is the third solo album by David Gilmour, best known as vocalist and lead guitarist for Pink Floyd. It was released in the UK on 6 March 2006, Gilmour's 60th birthday, and in the United States the following day. It was Gilmour's first new solo album in 22 years...
(2006) - Enrique BunburyEnrique BunburyEnrique Ortiz de Landázuri Izardui , born August 11, 1967 is a Spanish rock singer-songwriter.Bunbury was born in Zaragoza, Spain. He got involved in music in the early 1980s, making his debut in a high school band called Apocalipsis, and later played along with Proceso Entrópico...
: "Hellville deluxe" (2008) - The Hall Effect: The Hall Effect (2010)
External links
- Viva Roxy Music Site about Manzanera's work with Roxy Music and his solo work, collaborations and sessions
- manzanera.com: Phil Manzanera, Expression Records and the Roxy Music Archive